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Donizetti's all-time favourite at the Teatru Astra

Lucia di Lamermoor is making a very welcome and much awaited for return to the Teatru Astra boards after almost 30 years. One of the flagships of the bel canto golden age, Lucia has enthralled and enraptured audiences since its premiere at Naples' Teatro San Carlo in 1835. Enjoying almost cult status, especially following the magisterial interpretation of Maria Callas at the Metropolitan and elsewhere, Lucia, the emotionally fragile ill-fated lover, towers among the peaks of Italian melodrama, and not only. At the height of his fame, dubbed the "sole reigning genius of Italian opera" following the demise of Rossini and Bellini, Donizetti proves the point in the most eloquent manner possible with his immortal Lucia.

All the intuitive charm, superb phrasing, restrained emotion, elegance and beauty, and innate "cantabilita'" synonymous with Donizetti and which inspired Chopin no end, are all there: Lucia is all this and more. The Teatru Astra management have secured top of the range singers to ensure an emotional rollercoaster which this drama tragico is capable of generating. Who can withstand being carried away by the stupendous sextet "Chi mi frena in tal momento.." or the electrifying pazzia scene? These are just two of the gems which stud the glittering crown which is Donizetti's masterpiece.

Lucia is being staged at the Teatru Astra on Thursday / Saturday October. The mise-en-scene created by Enrico Stinchelli specifically for the Astra boards, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and Teatru Astra Opera Chorus coached by Maria Frendo will be under the direction by Prof. Joseph Vella, resident conductor at the Teatru Astra.

Tickets reservations can be made on helpdesk number +356 21550985 or on email
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Online booking and more information on the opera and Festival is available on www.teatruastra.org.mt. The opera is supported by the Gozo Cultural Support Programme.